


another grinning soul

by princegrantaire



Series: on the brink [1]
Category: Batman: The Telltale Series (Video Game)
Genre: (just a vague air of angst), Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Crack, M/M, Male-Female Friendship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-07
Updated: 2017-11-07
Packaged: 2019-01-30 20:08:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 834
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12660534
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/princegrantaire/pseuds/princegrantaire
Summary: Nora Fries doesn't seem to mind John's company.(Or, John needs someone to talk to about Bruce and Nora doesn't have much of a choice in the matter.)





	another grinning soul

Nora Fries is a good listener. That is the extent of John's knowledge about her. He'd only managed to catch the tail end of what he assumes to be a tragic backstory, the kind none of them lack, that very first night at the Old Five Points.

He regrets it sometimes, not knowing. Freeze offers little explanation after that and John rarely feels inclined to ask, the man's demeanour is often colder than his name implies and the risk seems unnecessary.

Nora, who is distantly beautiful and untouchable, seems to appreciate John's company like none of the rest do. The fact that she's frozen stiff doesn't appear to have much to do with it. John can talk enough for two and friendship is hard to come by, harder than he'd imagined back in Arkham.

"-Bruce's eyes! You need to see his eyes! They're so blue! He's super handsome, you have no idea. Oh, Nora, if you could only see him!"

John interrupts himself with a burst of breathless, excited laughter and carries on a moment later, gesturing as he speaks, as if he might just get a chance to illustrate his point despite Nora's unseeing gaze. Her eyes are wide open, just as icy as the rest of her, but John's long stopped finding that fixed stare unnerving.

"We're best buddies, of course, he's even agreed to meet you! Well, not _you_ but the guys! They're gonna love him, I bet. I mean, how can you not? Bruce's just about the friendliest guy I've ever met," he adds, very carefully neglecting to mention that the guys don't love _him_ all that much.

Quiet evenings aren't rare, not when it comes to John's still undiscovered expertise. The jobs Harley seems to think he's capable of doing aren't all that interesting and the subtleties of smashing skulls with baseball bats haven't yet been revealed to him.

Talking to Bane's henchmen proves to be duller than anything Nora has to offer and evening after evening, John finds himself drawn to her frozen part of their little world after Freeze makes himself scarce. He tells her of Gotham and all the pictures he takes, crammed together on a wall that John suspects might fall apart if he leans against it a little too hard. More often than not, he tells her about Bruce.

"I always end up saying the worst stuff around him, you know? I lied to him! I didn't even mean to but I can't exactly tell him about Riddler now, can I? I just get so-"

A white hand sneaks inside his vest and John mimics the distinctly animated movements of a rapidly beating heart. He thinks Nora might just understand, no matter that she hasn't had as much as a hint of a heartbeat in years. He waits a moment, on the off-chance that a faltering answer might come, and launches into yet another series of gushing remarks about Bruce's muscles.

Harley's promises of something bigger yet to come are alluring enough. John suspects he's starting to outstay his welcome. There's too much riding on Bruce's eventual appearance and hope pales in comparison to the weight of disappointment that can't quite be walked off during one of his many attempts to relearn a city he only remembers in glimpses. John hasn't gotten a single text.

Conversations with Bruce are few and far between. John goes to Wayne Tower twice in one week. He never gets any closer to the front door. It's good enough for the pictures and the wall and the little shack that has unceremoniously been dubbed " _Ha-Hacienda_ ". Just a small neon sign to accompany the Christmas lights he's gotten his hands on five months earlier than necessary.

Nora is the first to know when something changes. Bruce wants to meet him. _Them_. Waiting has always been unbearable and it doesn't suddenly turn any less so even when he's given the opportunity to choose the time and place.

"We've gotta make him feel welcome, right? Right."

John's back is pressed against the glorified glass case Nora spends her life in, mindless of the cold seeping through his clothes, clutching a banner and a paintbrush, dripping red everywhere. His tongue sticks out as he carefully paints each letter, childish in his concentration.

"Just between you and me, I don't think Harley really wants to meet Bruce. Not for the right reasons anyway, you know? She heard he's _rich_."

There is no disdain to be hidden despite the weight the word seems to carry. John carries on, occasionally holding up the banner for Nora to see. There is no sudden glimmer of recollection in her eyes, no unexpected breakthrough. John starts whistling. His handwriting is a little haphazard but something tells him Bruce won't mind.

"There!"

John sits up to admire his work and grins. It's the thought that counts, he tells himself. Nora's silence is familiar but the approval can't be entirely imaginary. He's finally ready for Bruce. The balloons are an afterthought.

**Author's Note:**

> written after the second episode of batman: the enemy within (in which nora doesn't actually appear but mr freeze talks about her). for reference [this is john's house](https://78.media.tumblr.com/f7e36d9039f3cb7002b114dfbfa7c843/tumblr_oz0a7gK77D1rsuhj7o2_1280.png)
> 
> [find me on tumblr.](http://ufonaut.tumblr.com/) hope you enjoyed!


End file.
